This only occurred in one case ( Defenceman Shane Holunga - who graduated in four years). As far as I know there was no concentrated effort to recruit older players. When you are the only non-scholarship, non-preferential aid D1 school in the country you do the best you can. ---------- From: The College Hockey Discussion List on behalf of Mark Lewin Sent: Thursday, August 07, 1997 6:13 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Older freshmen I believe this situation occurred at Union several years ago. The way I remember it was that Union, in an attempt to jump start their new division 1 program, recruited several hockey players who were 20+ who had several years of organized hockey experience in Canadian leagues. They knew at the time that, because of the age of the players, they would only have 3 years of eligibility, but their idea was that they were brand new to division 1, had had a typically poor season (typical for a team just moving from division 3 to 1) and as a result were having trouble recruiting. Their idea was that by recruiting experienced players, they could cut the time needed to gain a reputation as a respectable hockey school and be better able to attract quality players so that by the end of the 3 years, the program could stand on its own merits. Anyone who has followed Union for the past several years realizes that part of that strategy has worked so far. Union has certainly become recognized as a respectable division 1 hockey school. If my memory serves me correctly, the 3 year period ended after last season and this year, we will see whether the entire strategy works. Anyone from Union out there to confirm my memory or did I imagine the whole thing? At 02:44 PM 8/7/97 -0400, you wrote: >I'm not sure what the exact answer to this is, but I do know that Clarkson had >a freshman last year who was 21 years of age. I'd be interested to know if he >lost any eligibility. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.